New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Regaining a sense of belonging

Email user
sara.kebe@he.si

Basic information
Initiative title
IMEC

Full initiative Title
Interactive Mobile Empowering Centre

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
IMEC is traveling across Slovenia and beyond, transforming places of education for a day with accessible on-site exhibition, promoting critical thinking through creative "minds-and-hands-on" exhibits and interactive open-ended STEAM shows.Empowering local communities by providing safe environment for making mistakes and encouraging discussion. Changing the community's mind-set where mistakes are seen as shame and failure into a community that encourages mistakes as learning-for-life methodology.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
Cross-border/international

Where was your intiative implemented?
Location 1
Slovenia

Location 2
Croatia
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries
- Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Italy
- Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Serbia
If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
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Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): Ustanova Hiša eksperimentov
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: Dr. Miha
  Last name of representative: Kos
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: Slovenia
  Function: Director
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Trubarjeva cesta 39
  Town: Ljubljana
  Postal code: 1000
  Country: Slovenia
  Direct Tel: +386 1 300 68 88
  E-mail: glavnapisarna@he.si
  Website: https://www.he.si/hiska_eksperimentov&lang=en
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.facebook.com/HisaEksperimentov
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @hisaeksperimentov
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/hisaeksperimentov/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @hisaeksperimentov
In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
Interactive Mobile Empowering Centre (IMEC) is traveling to communities across Slovenia and beyond, transforming places of education and learning for a day with accessible on-site exhibition, promoting critical thinking through "minds-and-hands-on" exhibits and interactive STEAM shows for youth and adults. Activities empower local communities by providing safe environment for making mistakes and encouraging discussion. We are changing the community's mind-set that mistakes are shameful and a failure into encouraging mistakes as a learning-for-life methodology. Lessening environmental impact of traveling by visiting smallest and remote places (we rather call them capillaries) that are often overlooked and provide accessible and inclusive inter-generational activities for locals. IMEC initiative strengthens local community awareness by developing critical thinking and independent self-esteem, sparking curiosity and inspiration by integrating scientific and cultural experience with methodologies of STEAM (Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Arts, Mathematics) education in a friendly learning environment.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
critical reasoning

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
empowerment

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
inter-generational

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
learning by being allowed to make mistakes

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
friendly learning environment

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Public and national infrastructure in Slovenia is quite centralised and the aim of this initiative is to enable people in far-off locations to get the creative and research experience that could be otherwise inaccessible. IMEC is traveling to municipalities and schools in remote places, transforming them into empowering centre for a day. Hosting mobile exhibition at local venues cuts on transportation expanses and reduces environmental impact of traveling. Transforming known and safe environment into a learning supporting and friendly for making mistakes. Diverse group of people exploring, children enthusiastically showing elderly what caught their attention and vice versa, actively engaging, learning and socialising. Initiative promotes empowering people for critical reasoning and thinking, connecting non-formal and formal education, life-long learning for work and life. IMEC exhibits and interactive STEAM shows are well devised with a lot of thought and care put into every single one of them. Exhibits are produced in our “in-house” workshop and are very high quality, durable and made for long-term use. If possible, locally available and natural materials are used.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Quality of experience has been main objective when designing the activity. Logistics and production of activities had been devised with the versatility and efficiency in mind. This enables us to adapt the exhibition and interactive STEAM happenings to the environment and target groups. Each mobile interactive exhibit has been carefully designed and produced to meet high quality and aesthetics standards. Exhibits have a clear educational value, featuring STEAM principles with high craftsmanship merit. Every exhibit is designed, developed and produced in our workshop with great care and are constantly being improved. Next to each interactive exhibit, participants can find instructions as well as an open-ended encouragement on how to perform the interactive exhibit. Instructions and explanation have been reviewed and written in plain and understandable language. They are enriched with artistic humorous illustrations. They take the visitor on a slow journey into the depths of the knowledge hiding within the interactive exhibit. All interactive exhibits are built to be sturdy and safe and able to withstand interaction with a multitude of participants. An interactive exhibit offers variety of possibilities for setting their own hypothesis, testing it, realizing possible mistakes, improving the model and testing that allows multiple iterations of the impression building process. Some choose to read the instructions first, while others prefer to start experimenting and read the text afterwards. No two people are alike and neither are the interactive exhibits.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Slovenia is quite centralized country and our aim is to interact with the smallest Slovenian municipalities, local schools and communities as well as displaced groups, which are located at remote locations or have little resources and opportunities to travel and visit our Critical thinking empowerment centre. IMEC initiative brings communities together. Municipality and local business in cooperation with schools and interested individuals are invited to financially support the event and thus invest and give back to the community. School or local community provide a space for hosting exhibition at their premises. This initiative takes over this environment, transforming it into a friendly, non-stress and safe space for experimenting and learning and where you are allowed to make mistakes. IMEC has also visits children’s hospitals and asylum homes. Students, interested groups, societies and displaced groups as well as individuals are invited to visit and participate at the event.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
Initiative connects municipalities and schools with local citizens, marginalised groups, elderly, youth and their parents with our »minds-on, hands-on« exhibits and interactive STEAM shows. Benefiting from their scientific experience integrated with the method of STEAM education, citizens are being empowered for critical thinking, active participation and life-long learning to better prepare for modern age challenges we face as a society. We aim to show, that the place of origin does not pre-destine the achievements in either science or art. Providing a safe environment for making mistakes - environment that guarantees the best sort of learning represents open and equal access to science and art. Exhibits are interactive and designed to promote “minds-on hands-on” exploration. This enables individuals to test themselves therefore lessening the stress of competing with others, strengthening their self-esteem, spark curiosity and boost learning experience.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
Different stakeholders had been engaged in design and implementation, each edition has its own specifics due to different location and adjustments need to be applied to the organization and implementation. First contact usually happens with schools, involved teachers or parents’ representatives that wish to empower students and community for critical thinking, exploration and active participation. Municipalities and companies are contacted to support the visit with funding and promotion of the event. In the afternoon the exhibition is open to general public, citizens, societies, children are encouraged to bring their friends and family, (grand) parents and others to visit. International cooperation has been established and schools, municipalities and festivals abroad had been visited, adapting our methodology to foreign language and different cultural influences. Initiative had been met with great success.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
Ustanova Hiša eksperimentov (The House of Experiments) is curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and active engagement empowering centre. Our team is interdisciplinary and is comprised of educational professionals, researchers, artists in design, didactics, empowerment and implementation, and technicians who work in cohesion to deliver original, innovative, scientifically accurate, educationally benefiting, technically refined and creatively presented STEAM exhibits and other activities. In the process of making new content, representatives of different fields work together in synergy to surpass state-of-the art and to seek creative and innovative solutions in STEAM education. We strive to add value in every step of development and implementation. We are open to new ideas, even if they come from outside of our team, and collaborate often with individuals and organisations.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
Originality and innovation is one of top values we strive to achieve when designing our activities and exhibitions. IMEC distinguish itself due to its:
- mobility of exhibitions (all exhibits are small enough in size to be easily transported),
- friendliness to environment (we come to locations thus reducing impact on nature, choosing natural and available materials);
- flexibility to adapt to different environments and locations (provided local premises are transformed to a place of exploration and leaning),
- bridging inter-generational differences (everyone can participate, not limited to language, age or gender);
- openness to new practices and ideas (collection of exhibits and activities is growing, new topics are being addressed)
- constant improvements and upgrades (each exhibit is tested, revised and improved in the field).

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
Initiative is highly versatile and adaptable. IMEC can travel to different location and can be implemented in other places. Exhibits are made to benefit all ages and target groups, instructions can be translated into any language, illustrations are gender and culturally neutral. Due to its flexibility and adaptability exhibitions can be set anywhere, providing beneficiaries with the experience in their local environment. Our vision to empower citizens for critical thinking, active participation and support life-long learning in the EU and beyond.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
Initiative is highly versatile and adaptable. IMEC can travel to different location and can be implemented in other places. Exhibits are made to benefit all ages and target groups, instructions can be translated into any language, illustrations are gender and culturally neutral. Due to its flexibility and adaptability exhibitions can be set anywhere, providing beneficiaries with the experience in their local environment. Our vision to empower citizens for critical thinking, active participation and support life-long learning in the EU and beyond.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
IMEC stimulates creativity and critical thinking skills by communication, exploration and discovery. Active participation at our activities expresses participatory, independent, critical and creative thinking. Our vision, to live and participate in a healthy democracy, a society in which the significant majority think critically and address global challenges proactively is best articulated through »hands-on, minds-on« exhibits and our interactive STEAM shows. Curiosity, which attracts various age, gender, nationality, culture and ethnic minorities participants empowers heterogeneous target groups and public bodies relations creatively. Initiative had been designed as a response the situation observed in Slovenia as a strongly centralised country. Long and expensive travel for school groups and expressed high interest for hosting activities at their location has resulted in creation of mobile science centre that is not limited to permanent location and enables flexibility to adapt to different spaces and target groups.

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
IMEC initiative has started in 2014 and had empowered more than 200 communities in Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and Serbia. The number of exhibits has gradually grown over time and now we have more than 100 and more than 10 in development. More than 100.000 pupils and students were included in the activities, with numerous local citizens benefiting from the visit.

In the year following the application we plan on visiting 20 more local communities in Slovenia and beyond, strengthening awareness by developing critical thinking and independent self-esteem, and empower 10.000 more individuals to embark on the journey of active participation in the society.

Due to the situation in Europe and beyond, we believe that initiatives furthering inclusiveness, green transitions and sustainability while strengthening local communities, critical reasoning, scientific way of thinking and life-long learning are key for better future.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
PDF
PDF
- pdf-1-2075.pdf
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
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Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
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By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the initiative and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes